An Epic Ultra Will Trace the Monarch Butterfly Migration From Canada to Mexico

A couple of years ago, Carlotta James of Peterborough, Ontario, was on a run and noticed several monarch butterflies along her path. As an eco-landscaper and lifetime lover of science and tiny critters that most people ignore, James was enchanted by the insects swarming around her.

Monarch butterflies migrate 3,000 miles from Ontario to Mexico every fall, a journey that has always fascinated James and scientists all over the world. As she continued on her run, wheels in James’s head started turning.

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“I just thought, ‘How the hell do they do that?’ Monarch butterflies weigh less than a paperclip. I just kept thinking about it—that’s such an incredible story of hope and resilience,” James, 39, told Runner’s World. “I thought, ‘What does this mean?’ I think it means we need to understand their migration by running it.”

And thus the Monarch Ultra was born: a 4,200-kilometer ultramarathon that will take place in the fall of 2019, beginning in southern Ontario and ending in central Mexico to trace the migratory route of monarch butterflies.

When James was born, her Canadian parents were serving as missionaries in Honduras. She spent her childhood there and in Costa Rica, and growing up in a poor household, nature became her playground.

“My brothers and sisters were outside all the time creating magical games with trees and nature, and so almost every memory I have of when I was child is being out in the outdoors,” James said. “I guess my connection to what I’m doing now is just a natural journey into a deeper connection with nature.”

As her love of science grew, so did her love of running. Just like the monarchs she studies, traversing long distances became James’s way of overcoming challenges and coming out stronger on the other side.

“When I was younger I would run away from my problems. You just have a lot of sh-- going on when you’re a kid, and so I would just run away to escape emotional things, family things, personal things,” James said. “As I started to become older and stronger and more confident and more empowered, I realized I used running to figure things out—the big and small pictures in life. I’ve always found that when I run, I have such clarity and I’m ready to take on the world.”

Carlotta James, pollinator advocate and cocreator of the Monarch Ultra.

Photo by Rodney Fuentes

And now James is knee-deep in actually taking on the world—or at least for now, North America. After about a year of toying with the idea of a race mirroring the monarch migration, she finally found the ideal team of making the dream a reality. James partnered with Clay Williams, the ultra’s race director and mapping expert who is planning the 4,200K route, and Rodney Fuentes, a director and cinematographer who will be documenting the race. In January of this year, the trio hit the ground running to build their ultimate ultra.

In mid-October, James and her team launched a Kickstarter to raise money for the first major part of their project: a road trip to see whether the route Williams has been creating exists and is safe for runners. After coming back from the trip last week, James said she feels more confident than ever that the race will truly take shape next fall.

Her team is asking for ultrarunners to participate in just one leg of the race, either 50 or 100K. Runners won’t be allowed to complete more than 100K, so no one is stuck waiting for the previous runner to finish. There will be aid stations every 10 kilometers and “Monarch Ambassadors” throughout the course who are able to communicate with one another if part of the route becomes blocked or a runner has to withdraw. The ultra will take 40 to 45 days to complete—or a little more than 60 miles a day.

For James, the run isn’t about PRs or competition—there’s no prize money and no winners. For her, the goal is to raise awareness about environmental issues, like the decline of pollinators, and instill hope across three countries and two international borders.

“It’s really easy to feel totally depressed with the news that’s going on around the world… but this [ultra] is an act of hope,” James said. “The monarch butterflies don’t see borders, they don’t see ethnicities, they don’t see political division, they don’t see religion—they just do this. So what can we learn from them as a symbol of unity?”

McGee NallContributing WriterAfter a summer internship with Runner’s World in 2017, McGee has somehow convinced the team to let her keep writing for them as a freelancer.

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